Polymers have become an ever-present component of modern life. Products that used to be made from metals and other heavy materials using labor and/or energy intensive processes can now be made less expensively, more quickly, and with less energy input. Automotive, medical, information technology, and health care are but a small sampling of the industries that make ubiquitous use of polymers.
Making a device from a polymer generally results in an item that is lighter in weight than an equivalent item made from a structural metal or other material. However, with decrease in weight generally comes a decrease in strength. The decrease in strength may be a decrease in ability to withstand torsion, shearing, compression, pressure, or another force without buckling, breaking, or deforming to an unacceptable degree.
What is needed is a system and method for addressing the above, and related, issues.